Zambolis apartments

Zambolis apartments
For your holidays in Chania

Saturday 23 November 2013

On cremation (Aποτέφρωση)

We spent the morning at our olive grove, trimming grafted trees and clearing the field of the cuttings which we burnt in piles. It was a good day for this, as it was not windy. Although the day started off with a few drops of rain, it turned into a very fine day.

- Wouldn't you like to have your ashes scattered here on this grove, if you were cremated? I asked my husband.

- No.

-But you like it here, don't you? You come here often enough.

- No.

- You'd be visited often by all your descendants ...


No comment.

- ... the sun would be your constant companion, and you'd be in the company of the gods because you can see the highest peaks of Crete from here.

- Not interested.

- You'd be close to your earthly works, like all these olive trees... My husband has seen them grow and produce fruit, burn down to the roots, re-grow as wild type species, and he recently grafted them, one by one, to make them grow as domesticated olive species.

I think I detected a hint of interest in the alternative method I proposed of being disposed after death.

- Surely you don't expect to be visited often at a cemetery? We never visit anyone's grave unless we attend a funeral.

- I am not getting cremated.

Graves are so small and cramped. In Greece, you share them with so many people. Cremation sounds so much more liberating.

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1 comment:

  1. Is he what is known as "a man of few words?" I enjoyed your "conversation" with him regarding cremation. It's hard to talk about such things. This am we talked about the future and how we could get our oldest to move to our farm and help us when we're old, the way '"normal" families used to do it. We wouldn't want to have to move to town. We arrived at NO conclusions.
    I agree with you on cremation. I don't like the idea of being buried, nor does my husband. We still have his father's ashes waiting for the day we can scatter them on a mountain he loved. We better get that done soon!

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